Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.42.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Cognex from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,428,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $51,221,000 after buying an additional 41,378 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Cognex by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 20,786 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $873,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $521,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 16,096 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 4,251 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.84. 1,462,206 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,602,548. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.56 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.